Myron Duffy spent five years in the Notts County academy before two seasons at Basford United's academy in England. His first Basford season ended unbeaten - 15 wins, three draws, 72 goals scored, 16 conceded - and the league title. In his second, he scored a penalty in a 4-1 win over Halifax Town that sent his team into the FA Youth Cup first round proper, away at Accrington Stanley, and reached the Midland Cup final past Grimsby and Port Vale.
Then he made a decision that surprises nobody who knows the numbers on English academy football: he took his game to a place where it came with a degree.
A program record in Cleveland, Mississippi
At Delta State University, an NCAA Division 2 program in Mississippi, Duffy started all 17 matches as a freshman in 2016 and led the team in minutes. As a sophomore he started all 18, again logged the most minutes on the team, and scored twice. By his junior year he was team captain.
He finished his senior season in 2019 as captain with the third-most minutes on the squad - and a school record: 66 career starts in 66 career games. Four years, every one of them as a starter, with a bachelor's degree alongside.
Duffy's path is a common shape for UK academy players: the release or plateau moment arrives, and the question becomes what the years of training were for. College soccer is one of the few answers where the football keeps its intensity and the clock runs on a degree at the same time. The original interview was led by Fabian Spiess for Athletes USA.
From the Athletes USA archive - first published May 2020
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